CHINESE QUEER

Echo in Hai Men

Presentation of the graphic novel Echo in Hai Men by Seven, Add, 2021

Introduced by Matteo Gaspari and in conversation with the illustrator Carol Rollo and the critic Luca Mirarchi.

No, I’m not going. I’m not going anywhere in this life.

Sex, alcohol, and nihilistic delusions pervade the queer and lysergic underbelly of Echo in Hai Men , a world of sleep-deprived and disillusioned young people searching for love and meaning.
In a Chinese coastal town, gay student Tian Fushi, with artistic ambitions, asks himself “Who am I?” In order to find an answer, he will have to abandon his studies and embark on a tormented journey in search of himself, in the meanders of a metropolis where neon lights illuminate the fragments of an ultra-violent and subterranean world, represented through an amazing graphic mix.
The tender and depraved protagonists of Echo in Hai Men listen to punk music and old eighties hits, pick up online encounters on social networks and live streaming sites, frequent clubs and public bathrooms: they try, every day, to resist the relentless drift of life.

Seven was born in Zhejiang, a province on the east coast of China, and lives in Hong Kong. He writes under a pseudonym to protect his identity and to be able to deal with sensitive topics for the Chinese reality, such as the queer subculture. In China he goes by the name 切尸红人魔, Tawny Demon Slicer of Corpses.
His comics have been published in China, France, and Canada.